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With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Graham was at 57 percent — well ahead of state Sen. Lee Bright, with 15 percent. Rounding out the field were businessman Richard Cash at 8 percent, pastor Det Bowers at 7 percent, businesswoman Nancy Mace at 6 percent, attorney Bill Conner at 5 percent and attorney Benjamin Dunn with just 1 percent.

Graham has only token Democratic opposition for a third term serving the deep-red state.

Temperamentally, Graham is just not a bomb-thrower. He’s a conciliatory figure with friends across the aisle who often votes with party leaders.

But many tea party activists believe a deep-red state like South Carolina should have a senator in the mold of Texas’ Ted Cruz or Utah’s Mike Lee. They were upset by Graham’s role on immigration reform negotiations, past support for doing something about climate change and votes to confirm both of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees. In fact, eight county parties have voted to censure Graham in recent years for working with Democrats.

Graham, sensing vulnerability, started building up a strong campaign organization after the 2010 elections and aggressively raised funds. He’s brought in $10.8 million this cycle, spent $9.9 million and had $3.8 million cash on hand as of May 21.

The fundraising — and a major charm offensive to get on the good side of conservatives in the House delegation — dissuaded potentially serious rivals from getting in.

Graham also took a vocal leadership role in attacking the Obama administration on foreign policy issues, particularly the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, which got lots of play on Fox News. And he championed popular local issues, like deepening the Port of Charleston.

Because none of his challengers got momentum, the big outside groups that could have stirred up trouble in South Carolina, such as the Senate Conservatives Fund, stayed on the sidelines. The state’s open primary system also lets independents vote, and Graham was the only candidate who invested in a sizable field operation.